文摘
Before the 1980’s, secularization was a dominant concept. The author analyzes the opposing theory of an increase in the importance of religion in modernity. For this he presents the quintessence of the secularization theory, the individualization theory and the economic market model. The empirical results relating to the dimension of membership, the religious practice and religious beliefs are presented to analyze the significance of religion on an individual level. It is shown that the rate of people leaving the church has increased while attendance at church has decreased progressively. Simultaneously, fewer people believe in God. Increasing wealth, functional differentiation, individualization and religious pluralization can be seen as explanation for these processes.